With Dawei's interference out of the way, Golden Lion Shiki unleashed his fury, charging at Calypso with relentless ferocity.
Calypso let out a haunting, melodic wail, her voice rippling with seductive power that shattered the ground in its path.
"Like hell I'm here to play nice with some lady!"
Shiki's Conqueror's Haki surged toward Calypso, crushing the air around her. Mudstone lions roared to life, clawing at her, while his twin swords, Sakura Ten and Kogarashi, glowed with Ryou Haki.
But Calypso's Mythical Zoan Siren Fruit granted her blinding speed, allowing her to dodge Shiki's onslaught bit by bit. Panic crept into her eyes. In past battles, Dawei would've already crushed their enemies and come to her aid. Why was this fight dragging on so long?
...
On another front, Whitebeard Newgate slammed another quake-powered fist into the thick-skinned Hammerhead Shark Dalma, burying him into the earth. Dalma's Hammerhead Shark Fruit hadn't awakened, but his robust Armament Haki kept him in the fight—barely.
Cracks and bruises marred his body, evidence of the internal damage wrought by the Quake-Quake Fruit's devastating shocks.
"How'd you master Armament emission so fast?"
Dalma, reeling from Newgate's Ryou-infused naginata slash, collapsed. His already battered organs took another brutal hit.
"Gurarara! This ain't just emission—it's Ryou Haki, a cut above the usual stuff you see on the high seas!"
Newgate had no time for chatter; he needed to back up Brook. Planting his naginata in the ground, he flexed his arms, veins bulging like the future Whitebeard himself.
His right fist curled, glowing with white-hot quake energy. A single punch crashed into Dalma's face, knocking him out cold. His beast form faded, leaving him human once more.
Newgate waved over his crew.
"Cuff him with Seastone! A fighter like this is too good to waste—Brook'll want his soul for the collection!"
...
The samurai swordsmen, having decimated the Sea Siren Pirates' elite, rallied to support Shakky and Tom. They surrounded the remaining officers, ready to mop up.
A gunshot rang out. Witch Tia's heart was pierced, giving the toxin-entangled Ashura Jakun a moment to catch his breath. Back in Wano, he'd only faced swordsmen—never a tricky opponent like this.
Sniper Silva, perched at a distance, noticed Tia still standing despite the hole in her chest. Jakun and Crocus were letting their guard down.
"Damn it!" Silva cursed under his breath, firing shot after shot to finish Tia and snap his teammates out of their daze.
As expected, Tia's pierced heart and bullet wounds began to writhe with tiny insects, stitching her body back together. Jakun and Crocus recoiled in horror.
"Fire Dial!"
Crocus unleashed a barrage from a hybrid Wind-and-Flame Dial, scorching the air toward Tia. But a 500-million-Belly pirate wasn't going down that easily.
"No way—she's not a Devil Fruit user! I checked with a Water Dial!"
Crocus gaped. What kind of monstrous race was this, with a body made of bugs and poison?
Silva's next shot blew through Tia's head, revealing a writhing mass of insects inside her skull.
"What the hell is she? Immortal?"
Jakun unleashed his strongest sword aura, cleaving Tia in two at the waist. Yet her body kept repairing itself, the sight chillingly unnatural.
Tia's face twisted into a grotesque snarl, and a piercing shriek erupted. A swarm of venomous flying insects poured from her mouth. Even Crocus, seasoned as he was, hesitated, blasting the bugs with his Fire Dial.
Quake Wave!
Newgate, fresh from his victory and ever-watchful of his crew, landed a quake punch on Tia before sprinting toward Brook's battlefield.
The shockwave shattered Tia's form, scattering her into pieces. A fleshy, milky-white orb lay at her core. The insects screeched, swarming to reform her humanoid shape.
"You saw that? A white meatball?"
Jakun's jaw dropped. All this time, they'd been fighting not a person, but some grotesque creature.
"It's like a golden silkworm larva," Crocus mused, stunned. "It controls those poison bugs! But why pretend to be human and play pirate?"
As if her true form's exposure was too much, Tia abandoned the fight, fleeing and leaving Jakun and Crocus dumbfounded.
...
"Aaagh!"
Calypso's desperate scream echoed as Shiki cornered her, her voice a terrifying summons—one of Dawei's signature techniques. She couldn't hold out any longer.
Dawei, battered by Brook, Linlin, and Redfield, heard his lover's cry. His fury ignited, and he exploded with power, shrugging off his injuries to repel his attackers and race toward Shiki's battlefield.
His eight tentacles spun like a whirlwind, propelling him across the island in an instant. Shiki, wary of Dawei's wrath, took to the skies to evade the onslaught.
"Why's it always me?" Shiki grumbled. Stuck fighting Dawei's lover, he'd been "singled out" one too many times.
"Should've picked Hammerhead Dalma—higher bounty, easier target!"
...
Fully beastified, Dawei perched Calypso atop his massive octopus-siren form. His crew was in shambles: Dalma captured, Tia fleeing, elite pirates defeated, and the last few officers overwhelmed. Victory was slipping away.
How had it come to this? His plan was to crush Brook quickly, then support his officers to secure the win. Instead, the Hell Pirates' heavy hitters had dismantled his crew and ganged up on him. The script had flipped!
Was this a trap? Had they lured him onto the island? That shrinking tsunami—fake? Were these guys even human with that kind of stamina?
"Dawei, let's run," Calypso pleaded. "Forget Rocks. We'll go into hiding, ditch the pirate life for good."
Her words stung. Ever since Rocks took him under his wing, Dawei hadn't smiled. It broke her heart.
"Calypso… I…" Dawei hesitated. He'd roamed the seas for over two decades, clawing his way to the top as a dominant force. Even under Rocks, he was a king in his own right.
But her plea swayed him. Using Dalma as an excuse, he steeled himself for one last fight.
"I'll get Dalma and the others out. If it's hopeless, we'll disappear together."
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+188 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg